


Eye of the Sun

by Okita3_Daishouri



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Naruto
Genre: Gen, Injury Recovery, Post-Kannabi Bridge Mission, Warrior Monks!, guns!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24556180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okita3_Daishouri/pseuds/Okita3_Daishouri
Summary: The old man's ways are limited, rooted in the pitfalls of this world and lacking vision. Her ways are better. Fire, after all, is the first catalyst of civilization.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	1. Scene 0

_The only light was a floodlight with no source, illuminating an average-looking man in glasses. He had a grey hoodie and green tracksuit pants with red lettering along one leg that stubbornly refused to make sense._

" _Hello there."_

_He wore no shoes. I don't know why that, of all things, stuck out to me. "Who are you?"_

" _Well…" He scratched at his jaw, looking mildly disappointed. "I suppose you could consider me the stage manager."_

_I blinked, caught off-guard. "The what?"_

" _The production's been canceled, I'm afraid."_

_Something like shame squirmed unpleasantly in my gut. "I'm sorry."_

" _No, it's not your fault." He hurried to reassure me. "The director gave up, and no amount of pestering could get it picked up again. I managed to talk up a revision, though – y'know, streamline the parts, tighten the focus."_

" _What's the plan, then?"_

" _That depends. Are you willing to reprise your role?"_

" _Will I know who I am?" That was important to me, even as I couldn't explain why._

" _Did you ever not?" He immediately replied._

_I crossed my arms, mustering the most unimpressed glare such a smartass comment deserved._

" _Okay, yeah, that sounded a lot cleverer in my head," He admitted lamely. He released a long sigh. "I won't lie to you,_ _ **who**_ _you are has never concerned the director so much as_ _ **what**_ _you are. But I promise: if you stick it out, you'll be proud of who you_ _ **become**_ _. Deal?" He held out a hand to shake._

_I remember taking it. I remember watching his mouth move._

_I don't remember what he said._


	2. In Which Our Leads Are Introduced

The temple blaze cast everything in ruddy light and deep shadows.

She sat on the edge of a chest breathing heavily, hands resting loosely atop her sword's guard. Her peaked cap had been pushed back to rest her forehead against the edge of her hands.

A long moment passed before her shoulders twitched, and she pulled back her head. A hand came up to adjust her cap as our eyes met. Silence reigned, save for the crackling of the fires.

She grinned, and it was full of knives. She extended a gloved hand, soot-stained and bloody. "Ready to begin, then?"

* * *

My eyes opened to reveal a cave. Before me was a fire. Beyond the fire lay a bedroll. In the bedroll lay a boy. Heavy bandages covered his right half, from his head to the stumps of his shoulder and leg. His Fire burned low in his core, only just higher than the flickering embers of the dying.

My gaze fell to my hands, clasped in my lap. They looked clean, the gloves unstained. On a whim, I extended them toward the fire. The tongues licked at my fingers, at the cuffs of my sleeves. There was no heat, no pain. Just as I did not react to the flames, they did not react to me.

_「_ _This compares nothing to the flames of my 'pyre'._ _」_

The boy's Fire flared to wakefulness, though he held as still as any corpse. I frowned. He was still too weak, guttering and unsteady.

"Hey, you." His head twitched toward me, ever so slightly. "You're finally awake." A soft thrum of amusement passed through my core, however briefly. A joke is rarely as funny the second time you hear it. I moved to his side as he struggled to rise, gently pressing him back to the ground. "Don't move. Your condition is still delicate."

He flailed about with an arm that no longer existed. "I can't- I can't see!"

"Yes." I used the hand on his chest as a conduit, feeding his Fire with my will. Now that he'd awoken, a proper baseline could be established, and he was still pitifully close to going out. "The right side of your face needed bandaging. Your left eye is missing."

"'Missing'?" The boy sounded almost offended by my words. "No, it was a gift!"

I hummed, low and amused. "An odd thing to give."

The boy suddenly became very still. "…Where am I?"

I settled properly into seiza, my hands resting on my thighs. "A cave. Where do you want to be?"

Watching the emotions storm over what face was unwrapped was mildly entertaining, as he struggled with what, if anything, he should share. He understood, clearly, he was not among unqualified allies. I could approve of such caution in the face of the unknown. "Home," he eventually responded.

"And where is that?"

The stubborn set of his shoulders and the thin press of his lips made evident his resolve to keep that secret, reinforced by the determined burn of his Fire.

I let out a chuckle as I rose. "Well, I suppose it cannot be helped."

As I settled back beside the fire, I was impressed at how muted the boy's confusion was, his fear dampened by self-control. It spoke to a strength of character I'd always found desirable.

The boy drifted off to sleep, the strain to his body still heavy. The sun set, and I spent the night watching the moon drift across the sky. It shone white against the darkness, full and bright. By all physical respects, no different than the moon of my past.

…And yet.

_「_ _Were I but one of the Grand Classes, I could burn out such rot._ _」_ _/ Let sleeping Beasts lie, I guess._

It rankled, to know it was so close, and that I could do nothing. Even I must respect the dangers of an Evil of Humanity.

////oOOo\\\\\\\

The next morning, I set to changing the boy's bandages. His Fire had recovered remarkably – though still comparatively weak, it blazed brilliantly, showing no signs of going out soon. His remaining eye blinked rapidly as he adjusted once more to light, and when his gaze fell on me, he seemed shocked.

" _You're_ the one who pulled me out of the rubble?" slipped out of his mouth seemingly before he could think to stop himself.

"Just so."

"I expected you to be older." I glanced up from my work with a wry look, and the boy's visible cheek flushed as he turned to stare at the cave wall.

"Is that so?" I drawled as I finished securing the last bandage. He refused to meet my gaze again and I chuckled. Silence descended as I set about wrapping up the soiled dressings to be washed. The boy fidgeted in place, opening his mouth to speak multiple times, but shut it again without a word every time.

Eventually, he mustered the courage to ask, "Why did you do it?"

"'Why'?" I paused in my task as I thought about it. Why _had_ I saved him? "…Because I wanted to."

////oOOo\\\\\\\

I was not blind to the boy's struggle for mobility throughout the day, so the next morning, I selected a suitable branch and burned from it a crude crutch. The shock on his face was evident even with half of it beneath dressings as he took the crutch.

"Who _are_ you?"

I arched an eyebrow and remained standing. "Is it not impolite to demand a name without first offering your own?"

He swallowed audibly and did his best to bow without toppling over. "Yes, that was rude of me. I meant no disrespect."

The fact that he did not directly admit fault didn't go unnoticed. "And yet, disrespect was offered. Fortunately for you, I am not so easily offended." I finally sat opposite him across the fire pit, unkindled during these sunlit hours. "In fact, I suppose I cannot keep calling you 'the boy'. Tell me what I should call you, and I will answer in kind."

"Call me…" he trailed off for a moment, before rallying. "Call me 'Tobi'."

If that was his true name, I'd eat my hat. I hummed as I thought about how to respond. Even though it meant nothing in this world, I was not ready to reveal my identity. Part of me rebelled at the idea of hiding who I was.

_「_ _I refuse to fear mine own Name!_ _」_ _/_ _He doesn't trust me with his name, why should I trust him with mine?_

That rebellious part of me admitted the point begrudgingly, but there was an easy compromise within reach.

"You may call me Kippōshi."

////oOOo\\\\\\\

I do not need to eat, my mana replenished by a combination of my 「Self-Replenishment」 and the energy generated by my vessel. It is enough to anchor me to this world and fulfill my role, though without a proper contract, my reclamation is limited. There are work-arounds, but the idea of blood-drinking is a distasteful one, and the return of such consumption from insentient creatures is all but negligible.

This does not prevent me from eating for my own enjoyment. After one such meal, I set aside my bowl and spoke.

"I have a deal for you."

Tobi seemed equal parts perplexed and suspicious as he continued to eat. "I'm listening…"

"Your condition prevents you from traveling, and you refuse to share whence you come." His obstinance in refusing to give me the location of his home was equal parts amusing and annoying, after several days of it. This transaction would see us both benefit, without betraying whatever loyalty bound him. "I will find a way to return you your limbs, and as repayment, you will serve me for a year. After that, you may do as you will."

"Just like that, huh?" Sarcasm practically dripped from his words.

I grinned, and took some small joy at his flinch. "Rest assured, nothing I demand will be so onerous… for a ninja."


	3. Bloody Grass

The weight of Mystery hung heavily in the air, thick with mana. I could feel it on my teeth, in my bones. My mortal life had come long after the Age of Gods, but some part of my being recognized that if this world was not still in its divine Age, it had but recently ended. This presented me with unique… opportunities, and the thought made me smile.

My cheer was tempered, however, by the presence lurking at the edge of my senses: a pale shadow of the Beast. This did not bode well. I had yet to reach a decision on what I was going to do, yet here it was. Its strength was enshrouded in the moon, dormant and dreaming, yet an aspect of it roamed the earth, and I could not hope for a scenario like with Primate Murder and the Chaldeans. I didn’t even know what Sin it encapsulated, though I had my suspicions.

I never would have expected to find myself wishing one day for a Caster’s 「Territory Creation」, but here we were. I awoke Tobi with possibly a little more force than necessary, but I was eager to depart while the position of the Beast’s shadow was still fixed in my mind. “Up. We’re leaving.”

He took the rough awakening in stride, pulling together what meager possessions remained to him. “Did rock find us?”

We were _surrounded_ by rocks, what kind of a question was that? “No.”

He looked about to argue, but my expression quelled his protests, and he sighed in defeat. “Where are we going, then?” he asked.

I paused to actually consider that. In my haste, I had not considered _where_ I would go. Its shadow had come from the east, headed south toward the destroyed bridge near to the collapsed cavern I had dug Tobi out of, so… “West.”

“But that’s headed _toward_ –” His mouth shut so fast I could hear his teeth _click_ against one another as I whirled around, arm extended. I didn’t expect the embers in the fire pit to momentarily leap high enough to scorch the ceiling, but I probably should have. The burst of od had been a pittance, but it had the desired effect.

“We are going west.” I would brook no disagreement on this.

/////oOOo\\\\\\\

The sun was well clear of the horizon before I’d had enough of Tobi’s uneasy shifting behind me. Some adjustment I could understand, still unused to such a radically different center of balance (and apparently never having ridden a horse before, to my private amusement), but this was too much. “Spit it out.”

“Kippōshi-dono?”

“You have concerns. Speak.”

He was silent for a long moment before adjusting his position again. “What are you afraid of?” he finally asked.

“It’s not exactly fear,” I corrected, “It is a battle I am not ready to fight, against a foe I am not prepared to face.” I could feel his skepticism, and to be fair I did harbor some small doubt myself. “You doubt my reasoning.” He sputtered out a vague denial, and I grinned, though he couldn’t see it. “It’s understandable. You are young, and until recent events, must have thought you were invincible. There is no dishonor in avoiding a fight you are not willing to lose.”

He shuffled again, muttering something below the threshold of mortal human hearing, and I grinned. ‘Not that much younger’, indeed. The thought of telling him the age of my legend the last time I’d been summoned was a tempting one, though it was shortly derailed by the sound of a column of voices ahead. The sounds resolved themselves into a caravan at halt further up the road. I could feel my lip curling as I passed wagon after wagon and their occupants pretended not to see me. Where were the guards? Why was no one raising the alarm? They were _begging_ to be ambushed like this.

A young woman was seated in one of the wagons, carefully repairing a tear in some clothing. Or, she had been, but was now watching us warily. Finally, some sense. She drew in a breath, but said nothing as I halted near her. “Hey, you.”

She bowed low without rising. “ _Tono_.”

“Why are you stopped?”

“The caravan masters are discussing which route we will take, _tono_.”

They would likely be at the head of the caravan, then. How they hadn’t already decided this before they started was puzzling. “Where are you headed?”

“Nagatari, _tono_.”

The name meant nothing to me, but it didn’t have to. Nodding my thanks to her, I urged the horse forward again. I could see the people moving and whispering among themselves. One didn’t need superhuman hearing to know what word they carried. We rode on.

The leading edge of the caravan was stopped before a fork in the road. I expected word of my arrival would reach them ahead of me, and indeed the small gathering around the front wagon was waiting as I approached. Two of the men wore attire markedly finer than any I had yet seen, and marked themselves as wealthy enough to own the caravan by it. The rest of them, save one, all wore variations on the same thing – shoulder-clasped flak jackets in brown over a traveling robe, a hitai-ate of blue fabric with some symbol like a tuft of grass etched into the wide front plate, and a straw hat. The final man looked much rougher by comparison, neither his clothing so fine nor his armor (what little of it he had) so clean. He was the only one who bore a sword, and that at least looked properly cared for. Either a peasant soldier or a mercenary, then, and of the two I’d rather have the peasant.

I was in no mood for introductions. “Who is responsible for security?”

The man who stepped forward was a ninja – he had a similar hitai-ate to the one among Tobi’s effects, though the symbol was different – and the air of assumed superiority he projected was rankling. “That would be me.”

“You are either arrogant or incompetent.” His posture snapped from languorous to defensive in an instant, and I stormed over his attempt at rebuttal. “I was well amidst the caravan before I received so much as an _acknowledgement_ , much less a challenge. How many are you?”

“Four.”

“Not _remotely_ enough.” I didn’t even try to disguise my disgust. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth.

Another ninja stepped forward, this one in a green robe to their leader’s blue. “Four shinobi, _tono_ , please forgive our assumption.” The smoothness of his delivery led me to think this was not his first experience smoothing ruffled feathers. With a sweep of his arm, he indicated the others without hitai-ate. “Tamura-san hired about twenty men to supplement our efforts. Kinoshita-san is their representative.”

I knew that name well, and fondly. The Monkey had been called ‘Kinoshita’ once. I turned to the man. “What is your profession?”

“I was a farmer, _tono_ , before the war,” he replied, wary to have my attention but hiding it well. Not well enough to escape my notice, true, but I could admire the effort.

I smiled. “And now?”

He gave a bow. “If _tono_ wishes, I would be content enough to carry your sandals.” Now his words tried to mask irony instead of caution, and just as successfully.

“A bold request!” I laughed aloud. “I might just take you up on that.” Loathe as I was to ruin the levity, I brought the topic back to the matter at hand. “Only one score and four for a wartime guard?”

“Grass Country has declared neutrality, _tono_ ,” the green-clad ninja spoke up again, interrupting whatever it was Kinoshita was about to say. “This is not our war.”

“And yet your country is the warzone,” I snapped back. The ninja all stared at each other without giving response. I dismissed them from my attention and turned to the other three, the caravan masters and the ashigaru captain. “Your dispute is the best route to Nagatari. Which is the faster?”

The man the second ninja had gestured to – Tamaru, or something – bowed. “You are well-informed, _tono_. The mountain path is the quicker.”

“But not the safest,” the other one replied instantly. As my gaze fell on him, he bowed deeply. “Bandits and other rogues have gotten bolder, _tono_ , with the war pulling the shinobi away. We’d be better off going along the river.”

“I was unaware ‘bandits and rogues’ feared running water.” My voice was as dry as a desert.

Tobi stuck his head out from behind me to add his own two cents. “Besides, isn’t that why you hired ninja?”

Chagrined, the merchant bowed to logic and the caravan was soon on the move again. The ‘river’ merchant made his excuses and left shortly after. The ninja dispersed as well, though not before trading dirty looks with Kinoshita. Tamura hesitated, however, and I waited for him to speak.

“Forgive my impertinence, _tono_ , but will you be joining us?”

“I am of a mind to travel with you, yes. What of it?” I replied with a smile.

A smile perhaps a touch too sharp, for Tamura’s bow was sharp and nervous. “N-nothing, _tono_ , we would be honored! But… we are only humble merchants. I fear we may not be able to accommodate you and your brother as befits your station, and must beg your forgiveness in advance.”

“Our fare the last few days has been lackluster; I’m sure your provisions will seem a veritable feast.” I dismissed his concern with a wave of my hand, ignoring the way Tobi shifted behind me. Tamura seemed relieved, and I used it to inveigle an agreement for a frank discussion of economics for myself.

“Just play along,” I hissed to Tobi once Tamura was out of earshot, before he could say anything. “Unless you _want_ them to try and turn you over to your enemy.” I expected this war was what he meant when asking if ‘Rock’ had found us, though what kind of name that was supposed to be was beyond me at the moment. He subsided. It was the work of moments to locate the woman from earlier, and request to leave my ‘brother’ in her care. She acquiesced easily, and between her, her husband, and myself, Tobi was transferred from my horse comfortably.

“You’ll be alright here, otōto?”

He rolled his eyes. “You worry too much, Aneue.”

I wanted to smirk. I wanted to roll my eyes back. I did neither. Something in my core ached painfully. I ignored it.

I rode off to the couple’s assurances of his wellbeing and rejoined Tamura. My day passed in discussion with him and with the other merchant, Aoki. The war was entering its sixth year, and the situation was becoming ever more precarious for all involved – Leaf, Rock, and Grass. These were not the names of nations, I discovered, but of “hidden” ninja villages given considerable autonomy by their daimyo. So much autonomy, it seems, that it appeared more common to me to attach the name of the village to the actions of the state than any actual government body. My mind immediately leapt to comparisons with the old Ashikaga shogunate.

Iwagakure, the ninja village of Earth Country to the northwest, claimed to be the injured party, as did Konohagakure, the ninja village of Fire Country to the southeast. Kusagakure’s leadership, more closely entwined with its daimyo than the others, was content to bury its collective head in the sand and wait for the fighting to end, an utterly untenable position when the front lines of both major belligerents were in your territory. I did not voice my feelings on their imbecilic shortsightedness, but neither did I try to hide them. Tellingly, the merchants’ own silence toward the subject seemed more like implicit agreement than fear of retaliation.

////oOOo\\\\\\\

_“A moment of your time, dear Lead.”_

_I turned away from the absolutely riveting conversation the smooth-talking ninja was having with Tobi as we sat around a fire that evening. It took me a minute to find the speaker, in the half-light of twilight and the fire’s flickering shadows. Of course, that was the whole point behind the design of a stagehand’s uniform._

_“And who might you be?”_

_“Merely a humble stagehand, dear Lead. The message I bear is of much greater import than my simple personage.”_

_I flashed a smile in his direction. “You sure speak rather highly for someone claiming to be so low, Kuroko-san.”_

_The flash of his own smile was muted by the mask, but still there. “It’s more fun that way.”_

_“I’ll leave you to your entertainments, then.” A glance at the gathering revealed the attention was still firmly on the ninja, waxing poetic about their strengths, and the attendant security of the caravan. “What’s this message of yours?”_

_“Like as not, you already suspect these shinobi of braggadocio beyond their strength, and you would be correct. But more than boasting beyond strength, they boast beyond will. They are mutts, barking at jackals and fleeing before wolves. You would do well to take your own steps if you wish the caravan success…”_

////oOOo\\\\\\\

I scowled off into the deepening night, turning over my options. As a Pseudo-Servant without a Master, anonymity was currently my best defense from the Beast. I could take on whatever was coming on my own, but it would be an expenditure of magical energy not easily replaced, and all but impossible to hide. Even still, I was no Assassin, to skulk about in the shadows as I killed my enemies.

I stood up. “Kinoshita-kun. Gather the men, I have something I want to show them.”

////oOOo\\\\\\\

The attack came late the next day, as we prepared to settle in. A wild shriek split the air as clusters of ragged and dirty men poured out of the trees. It was probably supposed to be some kind of warcry, but honestly it just sounded like a high-pitched dog in distress. Their timing, by comparison, could not have been more perfect if they had planned it, which I severely doubted. That didn’t stop the unwashed mass of bandits from crashing into half-circled wagons of the caravan like a wave, of course, and curses and blows quickly began rising as Kinoshita’s ashigaru found themselves out of position and weaponless from helping with the routine set up.

I cursed as well. I should have expected this – a world so near to the Age of Gods, flooded with magical energy, would negatively impact my ability to sense other life. How long had it taken me to sense even the shadow of the Beast, after all? I should have known these bandits were coming before they’d even cleared the treeline.

_「The battlefield is no place for regrets._ _」/ Fight now, self-flagellate later._

No time for that now. Matsu, the woman taking care of Tobi, was trying to shield him from a bandit. One of the ashigaru was slumped against a wagon wheel, sitting in a pool of blood too large to be safe. Another bandit had Tamura by the collar, a knife at the merchant’s throat. Chests were being thrown wide, barrels broken open. Kinoshita was rallying his men, but it was taking too long.

With a short, sharp slash of my hand, six guns appeared in the air and fired in two volleys. The bandit threatening Matsu dropped like a sack of rice with a hole in his neck. The one menacing Tamura lost his arm at the shoulder. A third spun in place as he fell, his jaw blown clean off. Two more bandits lost legs in the second volley, one at the knee and one at the hip, and a sixth coughed up blood as he slumped forward. The hesitation inspired by the first volley turned into fear with the second and the bandits began to disengage. The ashigaru scrambled for weapons, and soon enough more gunshots began to sound as they used the matchlocks I had summoned for them the previous night. To my exasperation, they were aiming too high, and none of their shots hit.

The firing tapered off as Kinoshita ran about, yelling commands and berating their sloppiness.

“Kinoshita-kun,” I interrupted him as he buffeted the remaining ashigaru into formation, “report.”

“Sota is dead. Haruto is probably going to lose that hand, and Haruki’s arm is going to take months to recover. I’m fairly certain Kaito’s chest is worse than he’s letting on, and Yuto has a concussion.”

Just like that, my effective force was down by a fourth. I scowled, an expression that only deepened as the smooth-talking ninja appeared next to my horse in a flicker of movement.

“And where the hell were you?” I demanded. I waved off his excuse before it could even leave his mouth. “It’s irrelevant now. They’ll be back soon enough, we need to be ready to meet them.” Pointing out the directions I wanted, I began issuing orders to the both of them. “Arrange the wagons like a horseshoe, leaving the opening only wide enough for five men to hold it with their spears. I want the rest of the men spread to the other cardinal points in equal groups. Use the guns first – remind the men to _aim low_ – then spears once the bandits get close enough.”

Kinoshita gave a hurried bow. “I’ll put Tenzō in charge of the opening.”

I nodded my agreement. “Get the civilians to help arrange the wagons, then have them gather in the center with the horses. If any of them want to fight, I leave it to you.” He sketched another short bow as I turned to the ninja. “Spread yourselves among the ashigaru, your training and senses will help to shore their resolve.” The ninja mouthed the word like it was foreign to him, but nodded. Kinoshita grimaced, but didn’t disagree. I dismissed them, and Kinoshita immediately began bellowing out instructions. I grinned as the orders were carried out. My memories of the time spent with my Master were undoubtedly fond, but it felt good to be a commander again.

My focus turned inward as the work continued, picking out the magical signatures of the humans around me. I would not be caught off-guard like that again. The mana of this world was suffocatingly heady, covering the humans’ od like sand over stone. Eventually, I was able to distinguish individual signatures: Tobi was _here,_ Kinoshita was over _there_. Even so, what alerted me was not a change in the magical energy around me, but my own hearing.

I turned toward the near-imperceptible whistle of split air, and the shuriken passed less then an inch from my face. My horse reared in pain. Two Ashigaru dropped to the ground bonelessly. A third clapped his hands to his eye and screamed, falling to his knees. The crash of steel rang out as one of the Kusa nin leapt into the fray, throwing his own shuriken to deflect a second wave of the throwing stars, and engaged with the red-clad opponents who had appeared as if from thin air: enemy ninja.

I touched down, four more guns materializing around me and I took one in my hand. One of the red ninja to the rear released another handful of shuriken; my shots destroyed the weapons and him. The Kusa nin slashed open the throat of his opponent, and was bowled over by another. More gunshots from the other ashigaru forced the ninja to evade, and the very large man Kinoshita had called ‘Little Tenzō’ barreled in with a wide swing of his axe at the ninja struggling with the last of the ashigaru on this side of the wagon fort over his gun. The ninja dodged back, right into range of another ashigaru who impaled his leg with their spear, and he was shortly set upon by the rest of the group. Little Tenzō and his group began grappling with another pair of red ninja, while Kinoshita tried to organize the remainder into a gunline. A quick flanking maneuver now could break these louts. I cast about for the rest of the Grass ninja…

…and found them just beyond the wagons, fleeing the way we had come.

_「TRAITORS!!_ _」/ Bloody cowards!_

I leapt to cut them off, landing in a flare of od that burnt the grass around me black. “Stand and fight!” I roared, pointing with my sword.

“Are you insane?!” Their leader wailed, “They’re going to kill us!”

His head hit the ground before the rest of him. There was no blood – my blade had ignited in my rage, and the sear of burning flesh exploded into the air.

“ _You can die fighting them or you can die fighting me!!_ ”

One of the Kusa nin immediately leapt to join the others. The last hesitated, and paid for it when an arrow pierced his eye socket. I turned and fired without any hesitation, and the bandit who’d fired the lucky shot hit the ground first. This was not good. I was going to have to expend more magical energy than I wanted to make it through this. The ashigaru’s continued firing was not a heavy drain, but I could still feel the pull on my reserves.

A group of five bandits rushed at me, overconfident in their victory. Four more matchlocks fired, and the last I cut from shoulder to hip.

“Come on, you whoresons!” I challenged the hesitating bandits, “Who’s next!”

A loud, clear voice called out over the growing thunder of hooves as a dozen mounted warrior monks broke through the treeline.

“Bishamonten’s protection is upon me! Hell if we retreat, Paradise if we advance! _Charge!_ ”

I watched in astonishment as the monks rode down bandit and ninja, eyes fixed on the white-haired girl at their head, laughing and wielding a seven-branched spear. “… _Kenshin!?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title and summary has been updated because I wasn't really happy with the original one and liked this one better.


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